Little Treasures: One Shots
by MadameLovely
Summary: These are just little one shots. Some song fics, others little events that occurred between chapters, and then there's going to be made up scenarios that may or may not be far-fetched. Many characters, mostly Nova and Jim because I can't let go! .
1. Chapter 1

One Shot: Blasted Stain

_Believe it or not, the relationship between Nova and Jim started out a lot more rocky than they would admit. They fought quite a bit, though it was never documented. Here's the story of their first one, back when they were just fifteen years old._

Jim pressed his hands into the brush, wanting to scrub this blasted stain from the deck. He felt determined to remove it, though it had been there since the beginning of their voyage. He groaned, glaring the stain down as if ready to fight it.

"Jim?" Nova snuck up behind him, startling him.

He whipped his head back, his glare still in place. "Huh?"

"Er… dinner… it's ready, when you are…" She stepped back, wary of his aura; he was aggravated about something. "What's the matter?"

"This freakin' stain!" He tossed his brush into the bucket without effort and picked it up by the handle, lugging it carelessly down into the galley. "No matter how hard I try, it won't go away!"

Nova raised an eyebrow at him. "But… if it's a stain, it won't go away."

"I'm starting to realize that, genius, thanks." Jim huffed as he took his place in the back corner, burying his head in his jacket sleeves.

Nova sat beside him silently, keeping a safe distance as she ate. When she finished, she noticed he hadn't touched his food. Standing up slowly, she went back to the top deck and hovered over the stain.

It was brown, most likely some caked mud brought upon the ship by a large boot, and left there to dry. Nova scraped at it with her black boot, knelt down before it and picked at it with her fingernails. Nothing. She lifted a hand and set it aglow, then rubbed the ground. She risked putting a hole through the wood, but the stain still held intact.

She began to understand why Jim became so frustrated.

Nova ventured down into the galley again and picked up the bucket; Jim was still moping in his corner, unaware of the world around him. On the deck once more, she started scrubbing, pushing all her weight into the wooden brush, the bristles turning upward at the pressure. An hour after she'd been scrubbing, someone had come up the stairs.

And yelled at her.

"Nova, what are you doing?!"

"Scrubbing," she said, turning around only to answer him before focusing on the stain again.

Jim came up beside her and snatched the brush away, then forced her to stand up. "I don't think so."

"What?"

"No one is going to clean up that stain except _me_. It's my goal before returning home!"

Nova felt shocked and puzzled by his exclamation; it was a stain, what was the big deal?

"Jim, I was only trying to help-"

"Yeah, well, don't!" He shoved her out of the way. "I don't need help from the likes of _you_!"

Now Nova was beyond angry. "Ex_cuse_ me?! 'The likes of you'? What the heck does that mean!"

"Exactly as it sounds, Nova!" Jim shifted his body to send a piercing gaze her way; it was so fierce she flinched. "Keep your nose out of places it doesn't belong."

"Fine, I'll surely keep that in mind!" Growling, she stormed off toward the upper deck. She contemplated going to the stateroom and sleeping off the fight, but knew she was too wound up to even consider laying still. She leaned against the railing and stared out, her hand reaching toward the stars she was too weak to touch.

Jim pressed against the brush more vigorously now, fired up from the fight. Still, the stain stared at him, almost mockingly. Minutes passed before he finally gave up, becoming exhausted from emotion and the physicality of scrubbing so hard. He stood up, his legs numb from kneeling for so long. He looked toward the stateroom, considering apologizing.

Then shook his head. She had no right to intrude on his work!

He re-evaluated this thought, though. He acted silly, and maybe he should talk to her. As he approached the opposing deck, he heard a familiar sigh just above. He looked up the stairs and saw Nova reaching her hand out. Something about the way she leaned against the railing made him nervous. She placed her boot onto the rail and hoisted herself to reach further.

"N-Nova, no!" Jim ran up the stairs and grabbed hold of her waist, pulling her back. They fell onto the deck, side by side. "What do you think you're doing?! Why are you such an idiot!"

"I-I…" She stared at him sadly, her eyes wide and green.

Jim faced her, observed her expression, sighed. "Nova, look… I'm sorry… for… for earlier. It's just, I wanted to do something right and on my own. I shouldn't be so proud to except help. I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry. I should have asked about why the stain frustrated you so much." They locked eyes, and a small smile grew on her face. "We could work together. There's nothing wrong with accepting help, Jim."

He smiled back. "Yeah, I'd like that."

A/N: I have a few more "fight" chapters, just as stupid. But, you have to admit, any fight between couples is initially stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

One Shot: Another Time

_Do you think if Nova and Jim met much later on in life they still would have fallen in love? Read on to find out._

Jim navigated the submarine carefully, not wanting to run into any coral reefs or rock. Captain Amelia and Doctor Delbert navigated which way he should turn.

Today, they were helping some sea creatures on the planet Solara that had been poached mercilessly for the past few months. On this planet, it was illegal, though from what it looked like, there was no one around to keep authority. So Jim and his crew took it upon themselves to assist the poor animals that couldn't defend themselves.

Jim Hawkins was twenty-five years old, a thick dark brown braid hanging between his shoulder blades and a firm face to match. He wore a deep blue uniform adorned with gold, his thick black boots steeling him to the ground. He appeared sharp, and had the personality to match. Though he wasn't a captain yet, it was only a matter of time before he finally earned the title.

So far, they rescued two baby seal and their mother, and that in itself was a day's work. The poachers were relentless, and bound to stop at nothing to capture their prey. Jim resorted to shooting a hole in their ship, preoccupying their time while they helped the animals escape. They fed them some raw fish they kept in the cargo hold before leaving them, feeling confident they were safe. Now they searched onwards for more life, looking above and below the water's surface.

That was when it caught his eye: a shining white fin.

He stopped the submarine immediately, sending a few sub-mates forward.

"Jim, what was the meaning of that?" Delbert demanded.

"I-I thought… I saw something." His blue eyes focused on the dark blue sea surrounding them. He shifted to auto pilot and approached the glass closer. He saw it again, flipping around under a sea of net. "There!"

Delbert and Amelia stood beside him, the doctor placing an innocent hand on his wife's back. "What… what is that?"

"I don't know, but it looks like it's stuck." Jim made a move then, turning around toward the haul of the sub and throwing open one of the lockers. "I'm going to help it."

"Jim, what if it's a trap by a poacher?" Amelia asked sternly, crossing her arms. "You could be severely hurt."

"I'm willing to take that risk." Jim finished putting on a scuba suit and then made his way to the entrance.

First, he stepped into through a glass door, then a metal door beyond that. When they were locked tight behind him, the large entrance slowly lowered itself, water seeping in. When it became high enough to swim in, he allowed his feet to drift from the metal flooring, his body floating above the water. He dove under the water once it was deep enough and swam toward the stuck creature.

He moved around the net, wondering why it had been casted so randomly into such a dangerous part of the sea. He noticed one end was cut, meaning it probably got loose when a poacher wasn't looking. Jim swam along the netting until he found the creature. He nearly choked on his air tank.

It wasn't a normal sea creature.

She was legendary.

A sunmaid.

Jim stared in awe at the girl lying before her, almost lifeless, her tail shimmering in the dim sunlight barely seeping in through the ocean's surface. She had hair as dark as the ocean bottom, and skin as pale as the bleached sand of the beaches above, small freckles adorning her face. When he came back to reality, he started moving, taking out a small laser and cutting through the netting, being sure to avoid her. He reached out and tentatively pulled her to him, swimming back to the submarine.

In the haul, he met with Amelia and Delbert, who seemed surprised at the cargo he was carrying. At any rate, they helped him dry her off and warm her up. When she was completely dry, her tail shifted into a set of legs- and Jim was mildly thankful they'd covered her with several blankets beforehand.

She opened her eyes then, the brightest green Jim had ever seen. They met his, and it was like all time stood still. Jim forgot everything, even how to breathe, when he looked into those eyes. She didn't look scared of her surroundings, only confused.

"W-where am I?" she asked in a sweet soprano voice.

"Safe," Delbert answered when Jim failed to. "You were trapped in some netting, probably forgotten about by poachers."

She took in the faces of everyone around her, sitting up and holding the blankets to her body, her eyes landing right back on Jim. "Are you taking me home now?"

"Well…" Jim stood up then. "You need to tell us where home is… and your name."

"I-I'm Nova… and I can't."

This answer puzzled them, and awaited some type of explanation.

"I'm not supposed to allow outsiders to know where I'm from. When we did before… they hunted us down... and…." She lowered her head, not wanting to finish.

"Then, how about you pick a drop off spot, that way you're close to home, and we don't know where you live."

"Even that is risky." She sighed. "Would you… would you hunt us, if I showed you?" Her eyes looked pleading as she gazed each and every crewmember in the eye. They each promised no harm would come to her and her people. "OK. I'll tell you."

Amelia gave Nova a spare dress, plain and white, and the girl stood beside Jim as she pointed in which direction he should take.

"You know, we have a navigator," Delbert said, rather proudly.

"But we never did," Nova said, not looking back at him. "So we depended on rock formations to bring us home."

Jim maneuvered the ship accordingly until a large orb of white light shimmered from afar.

"That's it," she said, rather happily. "That's the Kingdom of Sunlata."

As they moved closer, the crew made their way toward the bigger glass window, gawking at the city that bustled just below the ocean.

"Why do you live in the kingdom?" Jim asked cautiously.

"Because my father is the king," she said meekly, her face reddening. She dared a glance at him, shocked and pleased to see he was smiling right back at her.

"Your father is the…" Delbert's eyes were wide. "I see why you feared bringing us here."

"I still do. But I trust you all. Daddy knows my intuition is never wrong."

When they landed in small port, they noticed that many of the people just inside the building were walking on legs. Nova reassured that the area they were in was breathable. Even so, two crewmen hauled two canisters of oxygen with them.

The introductions between the crew and Nova's father was less than pleasant. He yelled at her for being irresponsible, which she whole-heartedly apologized for. But she reassured the king and queen that the people accompanying her were in fact nice people- she reiterated their rescue to help their case.

"I don't approve of outsiders, as you can plainly see," King Phoenix said, glaring down at his daughter. "However, since you saved my princess, I will allow this, and only this, exception."

This delighted Nova.

"Dinner will begin soon. Since it is becoming dark on the surface, and thus hard to navigate a submarine, I will provide accommodations for you all. Please, join me and my family for supper, as a thank you for rescuing my daughter."

The servants escorted Jim and the crew to proper guest bedrooms, Amelia and Delbert insisting that, as husband and wife, they sleep in the same room. The servants made no fuss, and they instantly hid away. Jim chuckled as he went into his room.

The place was decorated in something shiny, though not metal. Upon further inspection he noticed it was filed down coral. A dresser, king sized bed, a desk, and two-door closet filled the room with comfort.

A knock sounded on the door, and Jim slowly answered it, delighted to see the black haired sunmaid smiling up at him.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." He stepped aside and opened the door fully, allowing the girl inside. She still wore Amelia's dress, and he assumed she simply hadn't enough time to go back to his room. "I'm sorry. For my father."

"Don't worry about it. I understand, really."

"I'm glad." She bit her lip, and an awkward, heavy silence hung above them. She said, finally, "I never properly thanked you for rescuing me. So, thank you, Jim."

The way she said his name, with so much devotion, made a shiver run down his spine- in a good way. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I-it's no big deal. Just doing my job."

"I'm glad you were." She gazed at him then, her green eyes shining. He met her eyes fearlessly, and something inside him clicked. Before he could comprehend the moment happening here, she said quietly, "I better be going. I'll see you at dinner."

"I hope so."

She giggled and left the room, him closing the door quietly behind her. He pressed his forehead to the frame, his mind reeling.

What was this girl doing to him?

After dinner, the crew promptly went to sleep, excitement from the day's events taking its toll. They insisted on leaving the next day, but a nasty storm kept them there another week. So Jim and Nova took the time to know each other better.

"How do you not like clams?" Jim asked as he slurped one down that he'd stolen from the kitchen. "They're delicious, and you're around them all the time."

"How can you eat them?" she asked with a giggle. "They're so completely vile! You're going to grow a third arm, I just know it."

"Have you ever actually eaten a clam?"

"Well…" She looked away, embarrassed.

"Don't knock it until you try it!" He handed her the other clam in his hand. "Go on, try it."

"But what if another eye pops out my head or-"

"Just eat it, Finn."

With a grudging glare she gobbled the clam, wincing at the slimy texture. However, when the taste hit her tongue, her face almost lit up.

"Wow! That's actually really good."

"'Thank you so much, Jim, for introducing me to this_ wonderful _gourmet dish'," the boy mocked, his voice cracking as it went up in pitch and he attempted her accent.

"I don't sound like that at all!" She tossed the clam shell at his head, rolling her eyes. "You're so mean to me."

"Yeah, that's what you love about me."

She didn't respond, but instead looked to the ground. This made Jim nervous, and he was unsure what to say next. He sighed and promptly asked after a moment, "Do you… love me?"

She hesitated, looking up at him with something that resembled hope. As she opened her mouth to speak, Delbert came through the hall practically jumping off the walls.

"Jim, the storms have passed! We're heading home!" The doctor didn't seem to notice the moment going on between the two young adults as he hopped happily to his room.

When they were alone again, the two looked at each other sadly, though Nova tried to put on a fake smile.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess."

He packed slowly and helped his crew load the cargo onto the submarine. They thanked the nobles profusely for allowing them into their home. Jim took one last look at Nova, who was staring right back at him, before boarding.

As they began to surface, and night fell upon them once more, Delbert came up beside Jim, the boy observing the dividing point between the sky and sea.

"Did you love her?"

Jim turned around and smiled at the doctor. "No. No, I didn't."

It was the lie he would regret forever.

A/N: _In my opinion, Jim and Nova only had one shot. I couldn't imagine them being adults, meeting, and then being together, since her obligations to her planet and people, since she's older, would dominate over her life. That's just me though._


End file.
